


envy green

by tentaclemonster



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Ruby & Sapphire & Emerald | Pokemon Ruby Sapphire Emerald Versions
Genre: Gen, Jealousy, Pre-OT3, Secret Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:01:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22728061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tentaclemonster/pseuds/tentaclemonster
Summary: Brendan hopes to become more than just friends with May during their journey to Kanto but an unexpected addition to their trip throws a wrench in things.
Relationships: Haruka | May & Mitsuru | Wally, Haruka | May & Yuuki | Brendan, Mitsuru | Wally & Yuuki | Brendan
Kudos: 16





	envy green

It was the perfect late spring day. The kind of day where the sky was baby blue and totally clear of all but the occasional passing cloud and soaring flock of Wingulls, where the sun and the light breeze of the wind worked in perfect tandem to make your exposed skin feel pleasantly warm but not heated to baking, and where the ocean waves lapped gentled at the sides of the ship and no matter where you stood on deck you could look down and see water Pokemon swimming along underneath those waves as clearly as if you saw them through a glass window. 

Sometimes, you could even see Wailmer breaking through those waves as they leaped gracefully into the air before diving back down, full bodies down to their tails disappearing underwater with a splash that would soak you from head to toe if you stood too close to the ship’s railing. It was the kind of view the Wailmer Watchers Club in Slateport would eat their hearts out to see and Brendan was lucky enough to see it all on replay time and time again from his front-row view.

He should have been happy. He should have been  _ thrilled _ . But all Brendan felt now and had felt since May – who he thought he would be voyaging to Kanto with  _ alone _ , with  _ just _ the two of them, with romantic notions of growing closer along the way dancing through those thoughts like heart-shaped ballerinas – had shown up to port with that green-haired, green-eyed, green-everythinged guy in tow and said that he would be joining them on what should’ve been  _ their _ trip, was horribly sullen.

“I hope you don’t mind,” May said at the port. She was smiling at Brendan and had tossed a cheerful look of encouragement over her shoulder to Wally who, Brendan noted with narrowed eyes and a dawning feeling of suspicion that settled into his belly like food poisoning, blushed at the look and gave her quite a glance of his own from under his bashfully lowered eyelashes. “I ran into Wally in Lilycove while I was buying some things and I was telling him about going to Kanto and he seemed so excited about the idea of traveling that far and I found myself asking if he wanted to come with us before I even knew I had the idea.”

She said it all in what seemed like a single breath, a rush of words whose feet were put to the fire by a little niggling worry that Brendan  _ would _ mind after all, and to be fair – Brendan did mind. He minded quite a bit.

But Brendan wasn’t a jerk, if he did say so himself (and he did). 

Brendan was not a jerk to his best friend, which May absolutely was, and Brendan was not a jerk to guys who looked as nervous as  _ this _ guy did, who Brendan was sure would make a face like his Poochyena was kicked if Brendan said  _ sorry Mr. Green but please turn around and go back to whatever forest you grew out of because I don’t want a third-wheel hanging around while I’m trying to work up the nerve to get my friend to fall in love with me _ .

Brendan’s dad had taught him better than that and if his father failed to deliver any lessons on the subject of treating others how he wanted to be treated, his mother had certainly filled in any gaps.

Plus, basic decency aside, May was smiling at him with hope as bright and gentle as starlight sparkling in her eyes while she talked and Brendan swore his heart gave an extra beat at the look. A Morse-coded  _ thump thump _ that meant  _ say yes and make her happy because how could you do anything BUT? _

And so Brendan said yes and May was happy enough for her hopeful smile to broaden into a wide, white-toothed grin and to throw her arms around Brendan’s neck in a strong hug which made him feel warm all over in a way that had nothing to do with the sun shining overhead. 

Then when she pulled away Wally approached him and offered a hand to Brendan (which Brendan took awkwardly and then stood perplexed as Wally shook their clasped hands up and down, not quite knowing what to do himself seeing as it was the first handshake of his life) and shyly thanked him which had felt pretty good to Brendan too, especially because May watched their handshake with a funny little look on her face that was the picture of charmed amusement (a look that Brendan privately thought was one of her cutest).

Less than an hour later, Brendan boarded the ship with May walking at his left side and Wally walking at hers and he thought to himself optimistically  _ alright not what I planned but Wally seems alright and Kanto is a whole new region and there’s no way it won’t be fun to explore it!  _

It only took about two days for his optimism to deflate like a balloon that wasn’t tied off tight enough at the end and for the initial suspicion he felt when he first saw how Wally looked at May to grow from the level of food poisoning to the severity of a full-on plague. 

Brendan was not unobservant. He knew he was book smart and would even go so far as to describe himself as clever too, and whenever May was part of the picture Brendan felt his powers of observation were heightened even further – like she was a Magnet carried in his pocket or a Mystic Water wrapped around his neck.

And with May insisting that the three of them spend their time together, full of confidence that Brendan and Wally would become great friends if they got to know one another and not wanting to hang out with only one of them while leaving the other alone and potentially lone _ ly _ , Brendan had a lot of opportunity to observe.

Namely, Brendan had a lot of opportunity to observe  _ Wally _ who it took him about five minutes to notice did a whole heck of a lot of observing  _ May _ with a look about him that Brendan recognized as one he’d seen in his own reflection on glass buildings and ponds whenever he was with May himself. It took just a few days later for Brendan to well and truly work himself up into such a mood over his observations that he may as well be painted as green as Wally’s hair from head to toe for how jealous he was over not just how Wally observed May but also the way May seemed to be observing Wally  _ back _ .

Brendan was no stranger to jealousy or envy. He’d felt plenty of it throughout his life and plenty of it about things involving May – though, mostly, that envy came from how fast May was progressing as a Trainer and all the things she was accomplishing even though he’d been a Trainer for longer than her and had thought (hoped) when they first met that he might be the one to teach her the ropes. Turned out she didn’t need much teaching after all and he’d ended up learning a thing or two from her instead.

But the point was, Brendan always managed to work past those feelings, to not let them affect how he acted to the face of whoever sparked them, and to eventually get over the green monster entirely. 

This time it was just taking him a bit longer than usual, was all, hence the reason Brendan was sulking all over the ship’s railing while May and Wally were off doing...whatever they were doing.

The thought of May and Wally being alone together just made Brendan sulk harder. This trip really wasn’t turning out how he thought it would be.

Brendan was pulled out of his maudlin thoughts by the sound of footsteps walking across the wooden floors of the deck behind him. A moment later, the footsteps stopped and a pair of freckled arms came into view on the railing next to Brendan, crossing relaxedly the same way Brendan had his own arms crossed against the metal himself.

“Hi,” Wally said, tone a bit shy. 

Brendan could see Wally peering at him curiously from the side and he just as stealthily peered back.

“Hi,” Brendan said, his own tone a little awkward too.

They lapsed into silence after that, both of them just staring out at the ocean. It wasn’t a bad silence at all, in Brendan’s somewhat surprised opinion, but a comfortable one. The same kind of silence he often shared with May.

After a minute passed, Wally was the one who broke it.

“I never really said thanks for letting me come along to Kanto with you,” he said. 

To his embarrassment, Brendan felt his cheeks heat up at the earnest, gentle gratitude in Wally’s voice. He cleared his throat to banish it away. “You don’t need to thank me. It’s May’s trip, too. She can invite anyone she wants.”

“No, but I mean it,” Wally insisted. He turned to Brendan then and Brendan, not wanting to seem like he was avoiding eye contact, turned too. Wally was looking at him with a pair of pink cheeks of his own and a timid smile that kept twitching at one end like a nervous tic. “I’ve never really had all that many friends before or – or been to all that many places, either. May was my first friend ever and if it weren’t for her...well, I don’t think I would have ever traveled farther than Verdanturf. Going to Kanto...a few years ago it would’ve seemed as much of a dream as going to the moon.”

“Oh,” Brendan said. 

Then he realized how inadequate a response it was and searched his brain for something else to say and what he settled on was: “May was my first friend, too.”

Wally grinned at that. His pearly teeth flashed from behind his lips and his cheeks dimpled and he looked, in a word, cute. 

“She’s really great,” Wally said wistfully. 

It struck Brendan then that he probably shouldn’t like that or the way Wally said it, but none of the expected jealousy that had plagued him for the last few days came over him. 

Instead, Brendan just felt a small but significant surge of appreciation over the fact that Wally was appreciating May. A sense of pride, almost. The same kind of pride he felt whenever he told other people that the Pokemon Champion was his friend.

“She really  _ is  _ great,” Brendan agreed, and rather than jealousy what Brendan felt stirring inside of him then was quite a bit of guilt. 

“Um, look,” he started sheepishly. “I’m...sorry if it seemed like I’ve been avoiding you the last few days, okay?” 

Wally’s smiled faded and he looked down at his feet – but only for a second. He looked back up and there was a curiosity as well as a determination in his eyes and Brendan found himself reminded of May all over again.

“Why were you avoiding me?” Wally asked.

Brendan grimaced at the thought of explaining but pushed on regardless. “See, the thing is...I like May.”

Wally blinked at him.

“I mean, I  _ like _ May,” Brendan emphasized. He could see the understanding dawn over Wally’s face. “And I guess I felt like May might...like you more than me and I got jealous and needed some space to deal with it. It wasn’t good of me to just avoid you without saying anything. It was really immature and I’m sorry.”

Now Wally was the one who said, “Oh.”

Then the words sunk in and Wally’s face cleared and brightened. “Oh, well, if that’s all then I forgive you.”

Brendan stared at Wally hopefully. “Really?”

“I understand being jealous. I – I spent a long time not being able to do the things other kids did and feeling left out and bad about it. I’d just stay in my room for a long time and just...be by myself.” Wally shrugged and offered a small, sad little smile. “Sometimes you need space and that’s okay. I thought you might...might not have liked me for some other reason, but if it’s not that then yes, I forgive you.”

Brendan let out a woosh of air. “Well...well, thanks.”

Wally nodded and rocked on the balls of his feet. “So you’ll stop spending all your time alone on deck then?”

Brendan’s cheeks warmed again. He nodded back, offering a silent agreement.

“Good,” Wally said it like he meant it. “I’d really like it if we could be friends, you know? I think any good friend of May’s is worth making a good friend of mine.”

And Brendan thought he could agree with that. 

He thought he could agree with it a lot. 


End file.
